17 Creative-Skills Side Jobs You Probably Haven’t Thought To Do Yet
If you’ve got a flair for music, style, writing or other creative work, you’re in luck. Some of the highest-paying side hustles—including many of the 17 below—are perfect for artist types looking to make extra cash. Here’s how to get started with a new side job.
1. Trivia host
Many bars run weekly trivia nights—focusing on topics ranging from general pop culture and history to more specific themes like “Friends” and “Harry Potter”—and they need people to host them. If you’re a “Jeopardy!” fan who’s comfortable using a microphone and coming up with unique questions, see if any local haunts want a new emcee. One high school math teacher in Florida earns an extra $125 a week doing this.
2. Calligraphy, hand-lettering and other crafts
Got beautiful handwriting? Offer up your services to address wedding, shower invitations and holiday cards or create signage for events and businesses. According to The Knot, you can charge $2 to $5 per envelope for addressing wedding invites. Post on wedding boards to find gigs or set up an Etsy shop.
The indie marketplace is a great place to sell all kind of crafts—knitting, watercolors, leatherwork, pet portraits, the list goes on. Etsy charges $0.20 to list an item, and each listing remains active for four months (after which you need to pay another $0.20 to renew the listing). If you sell an item, Etsy takes a 3.5 percent commission. One survey of 20 Etsy shops showed sellers making anywhere from $8.50 to over $5,000 a month.
3. Event or stock photography
Photography lovers with their own equipment can use their skills to capture events, which PayScale estimates pays $36.20 per hour. You can also sell photos to stock photography agencies, which is simpler but less lucrative: PetaPixel says rates vary widely from just a quarter to $115 per image.
4. Thrifting
Flipping clothes involves effort, but can reap big rewards. If you have an eye for fashion, comb local thrift stores and markets for items worth reselling on platforms like eBay, Poshmark, TheRealReal, and Depop. These bloggers make $30 an hour flipping clothes; another reports making $600 a month.
5. Home staging
When houses and apartments are up for sale, many Realtors will “stage” them by sprucing up the decor to show buyers the home’s potential. A freelance stager who can declutter and add fun decorative accents can charge an hourly rate of $75 to $125. It’s kind of like you’re the star of your own HGTV show.
6. Professional home or closet organizer
Obsessed with Netflix’s Tidying Up With Marie Kondo and find decluttering and organizing totally exciting? Market yourself as a home organizer to help people tackle their overwhelming closets, pantries, and garages. According to Angie’s List, organizers usually charge $30 to $80 per hour. For major projects, like unpacking after a move, you can charge $1,500 to $5,000.
7. Writing travel guides (or being one!)
If you’re an expert on what’s cool and worth visiting in your hometown or a popular vacation spot, you can design travel guides and sell them online as Amazon ebooks at whatever price you think is fair. You could also lead walking tours and earn around $15 per hour or charge per head.
8. Event planning
If you’re the go-to party planner for your friend group, try using those skills to help other people who don’t know a punch bowl from a piñata. List your services as an event planner on TaskRabbit, ThumbTack and other sites to earn around $30 an hour.
9. Copy editing and proofreading
Grammar nerds unite! Earn extra cash by reading and correcting documents, from corporate project proposals to college essays. According to Salary.com, proofreaders make an average of $24 an hour. If you’re an expert in resumes, you can market yourself as a specialized resume reader and consultant, making upwards of $50 per resume.
10. Teaching music classes
Put your musical skills to good use by teaching others. Advertise yourself on local neighborhood bulletin boards and sites like Thumbtack. Angie’s List says that beginner piano lessons can cost $30 to $60 per hour.
11. Children’s party entertainer
Bust out your balloon animals, magic tricks and face paints to entertain at kids parties, or come dressed as a popular Disney character to meet and greet children. Depending on the area and party size, you could earn $100 to $300 per event.
12. Voice-over acting
Someone has to do the talking in radio ads, audiobooks and cartoons—why not you? You can find gigs on Upwork and Fiverr and get paid from $30 for a small radio spot to upwards of $1,000 for an audiobook.
13. Publishing ebooks or creating an online course
Are you super knowledgeable about something other people might want to learn about? Consider writing an ebook or creating an online course to help beginners—on any topic you can think of, from photography to coding, writing or public speaking.
You can sell courses on Udemy and Skillshare or sell ebooks on Amazon. According to one Quora thread, new instructors start off making $50 to $100 a month on Udemy, but can earn thousands a month if their courses become popular.
14. Makeup artist
If you have a flair for makeup and hairstyling, rent out your services for special occasions. You will likely have to stock your own products and brushes, but event makeup artists typically charge $75 to $125 per person for both hair and makeup services, according to Thumbtack.
15. DJ
According to one PayScale survey, people who DJ on the side make around $65.70 per hour for five hours of work each week. List your services on Thumbtack and Fiverr, or on wedding planning and event websites.
16. Personal shopper
You might be on a budget, but that doesn’t stop you from helping other people shop—and getting paid an average of $11.48 an hour to do so. You can launch a website or blog to advertise your services, and list yourself on Fiverr, Thumbtack and Upwork.
17. Baking
If you love creating sweet treats in the kitchen, consider a baking side job like making kids’ party treats or cupcakes for corporate events. (This blogger makes $1,000 a month just selling cookies.) Advertise on social media or sell your goods on Etsy.
Read the original article on Grow. Copyright 2019. Follow Grow on Twitter.
More from Grow:
- Bethenny Frankel Opens Up About Her Childhood, Early Hustles — and the Clause That Saved Her Millions
- Retire at 30? Save $1 Million on a $55,000 Salary? They Did It
- 25 Ways to Turn Your Interests Into Income
Image via Unsplash
